Obituary of Angelina "Julia" Puzo

Angelina (Julia) Giacone Puzo

1925 ~ 2021

Julia Giacone might have become an extraordinary teacher, but like many children of immigrants during and after the Depression, she curtailed her high school education to contribute to the family income. She became a first-rate seamstress in an Essex County coat factory, where she eventually met Nick, a handsome garment cutter with the strongest hands in Newark, NJ. They were married at St. Lucy’s Church, Newark, in 1947.

Widowed at age 52, Julia used her sewing skills to begin a new stage of life, earning her driver’s license and living independently while raising a fourteen-year-old still at home. 

After thirty years providing the finest alterations at Macy’s Department Store in Short Hills, Julia retired (at 83!) and bought her own house in Port Charlotte, Florida, before coming up first to the cold of Ohio, and finally to the warmth of South Carolina, where she enjoyed sitting in the sun and being adored by her family.

On the morning of May 21, Julia took leave of her three children, Nicholas (Hilke) Puzo, Roseanne (Skip) Corris, and Frances (Matt) VanGlahn; her ten grandchildren, Julianne (Michael) Cantore, Jacqueline Puzo, Nicole Corris (Sean Ferguson), Michael and David Corris, Nicholas and Rebecca Puzo, and Megan, Allison, and Julia VanGlahn, and her great-granddaughter, Chiara Cantore.

Julia is also survived by three loving siblings, Antonio (Kitty) Gaconi, Josephine Esposito, Mary Caruso, sister-in-law Inez Giacone, and many nieces and nephews who loved her sweetness and her wit.

Julia is being welcomed into her reward by her beloved husband Nick, their baby daughter, her brothers Sam and Jimmy, sisters Millie Jaconetta, Mamie Torre, and Rose Cavigliano, and myriad family members who had prepared the way for her.

Relatives and friends are kindly invited to attend a visitation to celebrate Julia’s life held from 9:00AM to 11:00AM on Thursday, May 27, 2021 at the Madison Memorial Home, 159 Main Street, Madison, followed by a funeral service at 11:00AM held at the funeral home. For those that wish, you may attend Julia's funeral services virtually by visiting this link during the service. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, East Hanover.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 .

“She enriched the lives of so many just by having passed this way.”